I just saw a new Unilever Dove ad promoting Dove's Men+Care. Reminded me how good Dove is at getting to know what really makes their customers tick, targeting their products and tailoring their messages, employing a variety of media platforms, and all the while maintaining their identity and authenticity. Their campaign (Ogilvy) launched with this Super Bowl Manthem ad last year:

Dove's success is rooted in listening. Just like they did to create their Campaign for Real Beauty which targets women, Dove started with deep research - The Dove Men+Care Global Study. The study revealed that even though men (late 30s to about 50) have reached a stage in their lives where they are comfortable with who they are, they do not always have comfortable skin to match. The number one skin complaint was dry skin. What resulted was Dove's Journey to Comfort program.

In a recent eMarketer interview Robert Candelino, marketing director for Dove's Men+Care, described the key insight this way:

“Journey to Comfort” is rooted in the powerful insight that our target male has experienced many unsung moments in his life, such as marriage, fatherhood and professional successes that amount to a personal journey. These moments have helped him reach a point of comfort in his own skin. By bringing to life the journeys of our target’s favorite athletes, Dove Men+Care was able to produce content on multiple platforms—including online, mobile and social media—that is compelling, relevant and organic.

The many Journey to Comfort ads beautifully leverage the metaphor "be comfortable in your skin" by connecting the personal meaning with good skin care; in other words, literally being comfortable in your own skin. This elevates Dove from being about personal care products to just being personal. They are so good at tapping into fundamental human wants and needs, and then linking their products to those core wants and needs. On top of that, Dove knows how to deliver their messages to overcome the most likely objection from their target audience of men. Who better to legitimize skin care for men than professional athletes... from MLB, NCAA, and the NFL. The explicit message in many ads- that each star is comfortable in his own skin, is delivered with humorous glimpses into their personal lives, and virtually no Dove product mentions. The implicit message of course, is that skin care is a manly thing to do.

One more ROI quote from Candelino:

"We believe that creating a rich, loyal community leads to brand affinity and results in sales."

I strongly recommend any large B2C organization looking to generate and sustain customer loyalty in today's rapidly changing marketplace, look to Dove as a great example.

Old fashioned bumper stickers are the medium of choice in this war of ideology taking place in laid-back Ocean Beach (OB), in San Diego County. OB has long been known as a liberal, safe and friendly haven for the homeless.

Compare the two bumper stickers. Both welcome people to friendly OB. The brown one says "Don't feed our bums" and was made by a local smoke shop to deal not the homeless they say, but the more aggressive panhandlers: 

"It isn't about the homeless...it's about the bums, the trolls that we deal with day in and day out, they get angry at you if you don't have spare change, they urinate in your doorways, graffiti on the buildings, it's terrible." said Denise Prigmore, an employee at The Black.

Many OB residents were angered and felt that the message portrays them as intolerant. Look what was created in response, by San Diego's Regional Task Force to End Homelessness.

Ideology and personal beliefs about homelessness aside, I see all forms of separatism, prejudice, and racism as a market segmentation issue. It involves dividing based on differences and uniting into subgroups based on similarities. Even good ideas like segmentation can be put to bad use. The positive segmentation challenge here is to distinguish between the "good" homeless and those that cause unnecessary harm and damage.

My 20-something daughter yesterday was telling me about the challenges faced by her "Trophy Generation" (aka Millennials, Gen Y, Echo Boomers).

The label Trophy Generation comes from kids growing up getting trophies for pretty much everything (like showing up) -- inadvertently teaching them that they are always entitled to awards, effort is synonymous with success, there is no such thing as disappointment, and constant praise is the norm. As a dad and former rec soccer coach, I was guilty of telling kids "good job" when it really wasn't, or "you did your best" even if they didn't. A Wall Street Journal story tells what's happening when these "trophy kids" go to work and how they and their employers are dealing with the unfamiliar "compliment deficit" these young adults face.

So how do we market to this generation? 1) The obvious strategy is to lavish praise, target their entitlement zone and focus on instant gratification. Instead, try the truth. Explicitly acknowledge that false praise can feel meaningless. If they can do better or be better, tell them. That will speak to their hearts and distinguish you as someone they can trust. 2) Do not assume all twenty-somethings are trophy kids. While it may be a common affliction, a significant proportion are driven by different values. 3) See the good underneath the need for praise. We (my generation) gave trophies to make our kids feel good and let them know they are seen. Now as grown-ups, let them know in real ways that they count.